Turquoise Diamonds
by lydiamaartin
Summary: 5 years after the epilogue, Astoria and Victoire convene for tea in Malfoy Manor and discuss, among other things, why one should marry into the Blacks, how many Malfoy children there ought to be, and what color engagement rings should be.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is set roughly five years after the epilogue.

* * *

**Turquoise diamonds sparkled under the light of the chandelier, set on a gleaming band of rose-gold that rested on the ring finger of a beaming young witch, who happily held out her hand for her older companion to see. The hand that hosted the ring was twisted around to catch the light in many different ways, so the beautiful ring could be examined at it's best.

"It's lovely," Astoria Malfoy said admiringly, releasing her guest's hand and settling back in her chair with a sigh. "I know it's rude, but I do sometimes wish Draco was a little more creative when it came to romance. Teddy is just so..."

"Colorful?" Victoire Weasley suggested with a smile. "Mr. Malfoy's not that bad, really. Diamonds on gold never fail."

Astoria examined her own ring, a white, princess-cut diamond on a ring of pure gold. "Yes, I suppose tradition is all well and good, but a little bit of innovation goes a long way, don't you think?"

Victoire giggled. "Definitely. Teddy is probably the only wizard on Earth who'd dream of giving a girl turquoise diamonds for her engagement ring."

"He does love his turquoise," Astoria laughed. "Where did he get those, anyway? I wasn't aware diamonds came in turquoise."

Victoire beamed proudly. "He made them himself. You know he's apprenticed to Master Dallion, the famous wizard goldsmith, yes? He told me he just took some of the spells he'd seen Master Dallion do to gold-you know, the ones that turn it green or blue or pink?-and tweaked them a little for the diamonds."

"Incredible," Astoria murmured, then leaned back in her chair, smiling secretively at Victoire. "Then again, I suppose I shouldn't complain. Draco may not know what the word 'imagination' means, but he'd probably bribe Teddy to make some turquoise diamonds for me, too, if he got wind of my liking your ring."

Victoire rolled her eyes. "Teddy would make them for free! He adores you, and your three little darlings."

"If only," Astoria laughed. "Scorpius, at least, has successfully survived his worst years of puberty. But Orion and Genevieve have only just hit their terrible toddler years. I can't imagine how much trouble they'll get up to in the next few...decades."

The two women shared a laugh, and Victoire poured herself some more tea. "I always wondered why you decided to have more kids," she said through her sips. "Malfoys have a tradition of only have one son to carry on the line, and ocassionally a spare. Rarely ever a girl, though."

Astoria smiled, blue eyes dancing with laughter. "Well, with Scorpius off at Hogwarts for nine months a year, I decided the house was just too quiet. I managed to...persuade Draco to try for a little girl. He'll never admit it, but he fainted when I told him I was pregnant with twins."

Victoire laughed. "Did Scorpius?"

"Scorpius?" Astoria grinned. "He didn't even notice I was pregnant for the first trimester. That boy is so absent-minded, always lost in his own little world."

"To be fair, 'his own little world' sounds like a fascinating place to live in," said Victoire with no sarcasm, though the smile on her face belied her words. "It's got Al and Rose and no nosy parents, no annoying siblings, no overprotective cousins..."

"Well, that sounds perfectly boring," Astoria laughed. "Although, while we're on the subject, I'd like your opinion on one of my husband's theories."

Victoire raised an eyebrow. "This isn't the one about Uncle Ron and the tomatoes and-"

"No, no!" Astoria said hastily. "No, Draco is under the impression that soon enough, Scorpius will fall in love with Rose, they will date through the rest of their years at Hogwarts, marry soon after graduation, and have ten children."

Victoire had to struggle not to burst into laughter. "You must be joking!"

Astoria shook her head. "Nope. He appeared perfectly solemn when telling me this."

"Scorpius-Rose-ten children!" Victoire smacked a hand over her mouth to hide her giggles. "As if! Even if they _did_ fall in love, Rose would never agree to ten children. In her own words, I quote-'Anything more than three will be too much of a hassle when I'm Minister of Magic'."

Astoria smiled approvingly. "That girl's got ambition. Hopefully she'll be a good influence on my daydreaming son."

"Oh, but Scorpius's daydreaming is adorable," Victoire grinned. "Your son, in general, is just adorable. Why do you think I'm marrying into his family?"

"For the great genes, of course," Astoria teased. "That's why I did, anyway."

"Why you did what, Aunt Tori?" came a new voice, making both witches look up at the doorway, where a grinning, golden-haired wizard stood, twirling car keys around one finger.

"Why I married into the Malfoys, of course," said Astoria, smiling and rising to greet her nephew. "Hello, Teddy, how are you?"

"Spectacular," Teddy said, hugging her, and then moving to kiss Victoire. Upon seeing his fiancee, his hair turned a brilliant shade of turquoise to match the ring on her finger. "Hi, sweetheart."

"Hi, yourself," Victoire smiled, twining her fingers through his. "What's got you in such a great mood?"

"Seeing my beautiful fiancee, what else?" Teddy grinned, stealing another kiss before straightening under Astoria's amused gaze. "Actually, I just came from Master Dallion's. He says I should be ready for my Mastery test in six months instead of a year!"

"That's wonderful!" Victoire smiled lovingly at him. "So, you'll be a credited Master on your own?"

"Exactly," Teddy flashed both witches a smile, his eyes sparkling from blue to silver.

"I'm so proud of you, Teddy," Astoria said affectionately, squeezing his hand. "I bet the paycheck looks pretty good, too," she added knowingly.

Teddy ran a hand through his hair, still smiling as if he would never stop. "Very. I can open my own forge, or even a store, if I want to. But I have plenty of time to decide that."

He winked at Astoria. "I hope you don't mind if I steal my lovely bride away for an evening in Italy?"

Victoire's eyes widened. "_Italy_? I thought we were going to Hogsmeade? Merlin's beard, how'd you pull that off?"

"It helps having Harry Potter as a godfather, sometimes," he told her, laughing. "C'mon. We're driving to the Ministry to pick up our portkey, and we don't want to miss it."

"Well, then, thank you so much for your hospitality, Astoria," Victoire said, moving forward to hug the older witch. "I'll drop by next weekend and tell you all about Italy."

"I've no doubt she will," Teddy added, hugging his aunt as well. "See you later, Aunt Tori!" he called, heading out the door, hand in hand with Victoire.

As they left, Scorpius came wandering into the sitting room, scribbling something in a notepad. He glanced up at his mother and smiled in greeting. "Hey, Mum, I was wondering, since you liked Victoire's engagement ring so much, would you mind if I did something similar when I eventually do propose to a girl, instead of just using the traditional Malfoy diamond-on-gold-ring approach?"

Astoria covered her mouth to stop herself from throwing her head back and laughing in a very unladylike manner. "No, Scorpius," she said when she'd composed herself, smiling fondly at her son. "I wouldn't mind at all. Just...don't tell your father until you actually do it."

Scorpius frowned. "Why not?" he asked in confusion.

Astoria giggled. "Well, we wouldn't want him to die of a heart attack just because his son prefers turquoise diamonds over white ones, now would we?"

Scorpius blinked. "Actually, I was thinking red and gold." He stared curiously at his mother, whose shoulders were shaking from suppressed laughter. "D'you...d'you think Dad would mind that very much?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Astoria managed through her laughter. "Why don't you go ask him?"

* * *

**Author's Notes: So, um, this is really just mindless fluff. Heh. It doesn't even have a plot, really, but I'm quite fond of the characters (some of my favorites in the series), and if you liked the story, please, drop me a review! It means a lot! Thanks!**


End file.
